Actress, The

THE ACTRESS centres around a 20-something, hormone-charged Perth household. Tom is the desperate-for-a-girlfriend supermarket manager; Kevin an office administrator with a constant itchy right hand; and gay arts-student Claire complements the crew. The film sets the agenda from the outset with an intimate sex scene between Claire and her girlfriend. Claire's girlfriend hurriedly departs the household leaving the clan in need of a paying housemate. While shopping, Tom introduces himself to Emma, a visiting Melbournian actress checking out the housing vancancies on the community notice board. He invites her to be their housemate and Emma proceeds to lure all three into her seductress' trap. Soon the original three are pitched against each other, while manipulative Emma purrs gleefully, toying with her three trapped mice. Conflicts escalate, culminating in a near-fatal incident at Emma's birthday party.
This is a good observational piece dealing with typical share-house grievances and the tensions that arise when sex-starved 20-somethings find themselves in a house together. The films three protagonists negotiate boundries, sexual and household politics, and their own moral code. By the end of the film they are well on the road to discovering who they really are.
A cleverly timed black comedy with definite cult potential, this is a brilliant debut.